About that ballpark site ...

How funky is the industrial ooze burbling under the vast parking lot that is Howard Terminal, the proposed future home of the Oakland A’s?

As outlined in a recent Chronicle story, the terminal has a paved “cap” covering a toxic sea, which is the legacy of several messy manufacturing operations on the site back in the days before environmental regulations.

The Port of Oakland bought the site in 1978 and sent geotechnical engineers to test the soil in preparation for paving the acreage and installing light standards.

Not long ago I spoke with a civil engineer with knowledge of that project. He is an A’s booster hoping to alert the team to potential problems at the site. He requested anonymity because he is no longer involved in that work and is not authorized to speak for any of the current agencies. The man told me that two engineers were sent to Howard Terminal to drill soil-test holes down into the earth.

“The fumes that came out of the test holes were so toxic they overcame the geotech technicians and they had to be taken to the hospital,” said the man.

He said the plans for the terminal were then altered. The toxic soil was paved over, capping the bad stuff. The paveover — sounds almost like a comb-over — raised the level of the entire area, and the lightstandard bases were re-designed to eliminate the need for deep piers.

Hmm. Wouldn’t the A’s need to sink pilings into that toxic stuff in order to build a ballpark?

“They would, if they built it over that area, and that’s exactly my concern,” the man said. “Maybe it’s manageable. That requires more knowledge than I have. (But the toxic stuff ) is not going to go away. I’m hopeful it’s not leaking into the bay.”

Catherine Aker, A’s vice president of communications and community, said, “This is a known contaminated site like many development sites in the Bay Area and it will be thoroughly studied and managed accordingly. Our project will be importing soil and remediating where DTSC (Department of Toxic Substances Control) require us to; a great public benefit to repurpose a brownfield site and transform it into a public amenity.”

Aker added, “Engeo (a geotechnical engineering firm working on the A’s ballpark project) has characterized the environmental contamination as low and very manageable.”

My source said, “I will be happy as long as the A’s are informed, so they don’t make a foolish decision.”

That could never happen.

Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle 2018 A colorful array of shipping containers rests at Howard Terminal, which covers layers of earlier industrial uses, next to the bay in Oakland where the A’s want to build their new ballpark.